A blog about my three kids, their mom, my wife (those last two are same), and our many adventures through this thing called being a Family.

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Tag Archives: 2016

Don’t get me wrong, the loss of talent in 2016 has been both horrific and devastating. But this isn’t about our favorite people, this about us. We as a generation, the youth (or not so youthful in some cases) who grew up with these colossal figures are getting old. Our heroes of old were getting older right along with us. The 80’s were thirty years ago. Thirty years. That’s three decades. The 70’s? Forty years ago. That beloved idol who might have been in their twenties back then would be roughly in their sixties.

And that kick-ass Rock N’ Roll lifestyle? The ‘Devil may care’ ideology that made you all warm and sticky on the inside? That’s shit is rough on a person. Even if that’s not the chance, humanity is saddled with some truly messed genetic material that lends itself to all manner of deadly conditions. Cancer. Heart disease. Diabetes. It’s like our own bodies are out to get us.

So yeah, 2016 has take a fair number of people who entertained us immensely. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The really scary, the really sad thing is that this year has been a big wake-up call. Teens aren’t the only ones who think they are immortal. Hell, I honestly don’t remember thinking any such idiocy as a teen. And I can’t think of any of my friends who did. No, 2016 has told the world loud and clear that life is still just as terminal a condition as it’s always been. For centuries and millennia and eons. Since the dawn of time, since the birth of the universe. If it lives, it will surely die.

Slight shift in gears here- My Beast became aware of mortality far too early. I’m not sure what did it. It wasn’t a death in the family or any such thing, those are understandable revelations. I guess she just realized it. It’s been a thing ever since. It’s hard trying to explain how it all works. It’s hard explaining why, especially when there’s not really any reason beyond the simple fact that such is life. To live, and eventually to die. No escaping it, it’s part of the package. I try to emphasize the good bits in between. Fun, family, friends, chocolate. It seems to help. And that’s the other part, we are in it in together. All of us. Slowly, inexorably, shuffling our way towards an end.

So here’s hoping not to avoid that end somehow, but that when it comes it’s a damned good one.